Apples to Apples
by DenizenofTwilight
Summary: Five years after the Game, the characters' lives have moved in the directions that they should, and everything's as it should be… Except that Shiki has broken up with Neku, for a reason he doesn't know. What's going on with Shiki, Neku can only guess at. But as she's acting more and more like the old him, he knows only he can set it right. NeShiki, and slight Joshyme and JoshNeku.


**Author's Note: Like all of my stories, what's going on with Shiki won't be revealed right away, but I promise everything will make sense in the end.**

**Also, this has light references to the anime "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". While you'd probably understand the said references better if you're familiar with the anime, you don't have to know it to be able to understand this story (the same can be said for the KH3D references).**

**Btw, this story starts out angsty, but ends up completely humorous and fluffy by the end of it. Yep.**

**And this is dedicated to Dina (Amulet Misty) and Liz (BlueRose729), because they're both awesome (no one can argue that), but mostly because they both LOVE this ship, and we have close ties by talking about this fandom and ship together.**

**Apples to Apples**

"Damnit, Shiki!" Neku growled, as he pounded on his ex-girlfriend's door, and _prayed_ he didn't hear her eating more. How she could eat so much these days, and stay so painfully skinny, Neku had no idea.

Well, actually, he could wager a guess. And thus, that made him worry all the more. Though Neku got on relatively well with Eri, and saw her as a friend, even, if she was feeding Stalker lies about her being fat, Neku was going to kill her.

"C'mon! Just tell me what I did wrong. It can't be any worse than almost killing you that one time, right? Shiki, please!" Neku finally gave up his façade, as his fingers came loose from the fist they'd been in, and flattened against the door in defeat.

Yeah... he probably looked the epitome of defeat, too, the way he was leaning his head against the door, and about to slip down it, he knew.

On the other side of the door, Neku imagined Shiki looking through the peephole pensively, or at least he hoped she was. It would have been nice to know that maybe she cared about him as much as he did her, but Neku didn't kid himself. He also didn't kid himself that he was acting like anything other than a love-struck schoolgirl, but there was just nothing for it...

And though the thoughts in Neku's head escaped like water through an open fist, and he found he couldn't focus on _anything_, one thing became certain for him: that if he stormed through that door, and found Shiki balancing an apple on her hip for the _umpteenth_ time, he was going to find Joshua and murder him.

After all, Shiki had only ever been so graceful in once place, hadn't she? The UG. What if—and here Neku could barely even bare to think the words—what if Shiki was dead again? Or moreover, what if she was a Reaper?

Shiki, perhaps mercifully knowing where Neku's thoughts had taken him, finally opened the door barring Neku from her, but with a scoff. With one hand on her hip, and the other one gesturing for Neku to come in, she traveled back further into her apartment, and set to tying a bow into her hair.

And at once, that action of Shiki's instantly had Neku on edge; he didn't exactly value the idea that she'd grown her hair out again—like when she'd been unconfident, and had wanted to be like Eri—but he had lived with it when they'd been dating…

But now, Shiki had broken up with him for a reason Neku could only guess at. And were it not for the fact that he still loved her, and was worried about her, his pride would have been such that he would have left her long ago.

Like right now, when she was throwing the apple that Neku had_known_ he'd heard at his abdomen, like some terrible trust exercise. But more accurately, she was saying she _didn't_trust him and wanted him out, but Neku wasn't willing to give in quite so easily.

Slamming his hands on the MP3 player he'd seen fit to buy again, Neku hoped and prayed that all the songs would begin playing on it at once or something, because anything would be better than dealing with Shiki when she was like this, he knew.

Giving said girl the bird, and not even caring about it anymore, Neku said emotionlessly, "We were all supposed to go to WildKat today to tutor the new Players, remember?"

And upon seeing the look of irritation on Shiki's face and something else, Neku strode away from her, with the intention of never coming back again. And as he imagined Shiki dancing little ditties at that, his intention only solidified.

...

"Nek-kun, Nek-kun, Nek-kun," Joshua criticized his former Partner, as he evaded one of Neku's Tin Pin strategies and then another and then another. "When are you going to learn that I know your strategy? Most normal people, for instance, would favor and protect their favorite Pin. You, on the other hand, have never been normal or sociable, so it's quite easy to guess you're going to make it commit suicide when you start. It's truly a travesty that you're as predictable as all of that, but then again... no one is intelligent as yours truly, so I'm sure you've won against a lot of people with that lame strategy, huh?"

At first, when Joshua had begun berating Neku's strategy, his expression had ranged from cold amusement, shock, and even a little bit of awe. Now, though, when realizing probably where Joshua's comments were going, and that he seemed to know more than he was letting on, Neku found the only thing he could do in this situation was to pull Joshua up by his shirt collar, and snarl right into his ear, "Listen, you asshole! I'm only here to help your next victims. I'm doing _you_ a favor, and if you continue to patronize me for it, I'm going to-"

And if nothing had ever stopped Neku from hurting Joshua before, hearing the way he giggled like it was all the most amusing thing in the world—and smirked all-knowingly, like Neku had just played into his hands or something—certainly halted his actions now.

That, and Mr. Hanekoma strolling into the room, with his hands raised palms-forward, as he deadpanned, "Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Phones. No getting blood on my new floor, aiight? And you know I'm usually not one to take sides, but I'd be careful, if I were you. I think you may have just proved J's point there, kiddo."

Fighting off the will to fanboy, that came over him whenever Mr. H was involved, Neku rubbed at the beck of his neck albeit sheepishly, and—against his better judgment—muttered an apology to Joshua, who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

And if that wasn't enough for Neku to want to hit him even more so than before, he didn't know what was. But for Mr. H's sake, more than the strange friendship he had with Josh, Neku refrained from doing so.

And then, for some reason unknown to him, Neku slumped down into his seat and said despite himself, "There's something wrong with Shiki."

And at that, Mr. H effectively stopped from pouring more coffee into his cup, and quickly made an excuse, before escaping into the back room. Joshua, on the other hand, observed his manicured nails and said in a rather bored fashion, "Of course there is, dear. Like I just said a moment ago—and like you would have heard, if you'd clean your ears out every now and then—people usually don't let go of their favorite possessions, and our dear Miss Misaki has recycled her Mr. Mew. Now, Neku: why do you think that is?"

Before Neku could really ponder that, or give some explanation that the Composer would inevitably make fun of, Rhyme came spilling in, like he knew she would sooner or later. And as Neku watched on—confused as he ever was, when it came to these two's relationship—Rhyme quickly latched onto Joshua's arm, and whispered something in his ear that made him smile the slightest bit.

Then, turning to Neku, Rhyme quickly bid him a good morning before explaining, "The Players are almost here, and while originally Joshua said only three of us could help them, I may or may not have convinced him to let all five of us ex-Players contribute something."

Never in all his life, had Neku ever seen Rhyme smile so radiantly, or Joshua actually look like a normal, happy human being. As it happened, Joshua and Rhyme's relationship still mystified Neku, and he more often than not wanted to rip the guy's throat out, for all he inevitably put Rhyme through.

But at the same time... Rhyme seemed happy enough, Neku supposed, and she was good for Joshua, so who was he to complain, really? Even if Neku couldn't always understand why Rhyme would put up with the Composer…

If it were he, for instance, he would have never been completely comfortable in Joshua's presence, unless he allowed everyone who deserved the chance to come back to life. He certainly was being more fair now, Neku allowed, but... it was odd that the idealistic Rhyme could ever settle for anything less than perfection in her desires.

But then again, maybe there was some sort of rhyme or reason to this type thing. And furthermore, Joshua wouldn't have loosened his Game up at _all_, if it weren't for Rhyme, so...

Taking a drink of the coffee Mr. H had left, when he felt the desire to escape from relationship talk (and idly, Neku wondered if Sanae would _stay_ gone for the time being, if he knew that Joshua and Rhyme were both present now), Neku said, as he swished the liquid back and forth in his mouth, "I really don't need to know more about this 'convincing' thing, Rhyme. It sounds a little suggestive to me, and since you're like a sister to me...

"Anyway," Neku continued on before he could dig a bigger hole for himself, or think more on things he'd rather not have, "that _is _good news. And I suppose it keeps my presence here from being completely redundant, if this asshole _isn't_ going to just screw everyone over, anyway, but...

"Man, are you guys cheesy now. I almost miss your dysfunctional sides now, as compared to your sugary sweet ones. But I suppose it's good that you're not Persephone and Hades anymore. Yep." Neku confirmed mostly to himself, as he took another sip of the House Blend coffee.

It didn't escape his attention, either, that Joshua and Rhyme quickly exchanged looks at his words, as if hinting the fact they _were_ still dysfunctional, and just not showing it as much. And normally, Neku would have been on Joshua's case for torturing Rhyme at once, but upon realizing_he and Shiki_ were the real dysfunctional ones at the moment, and probably the closer comparison to Hades and Persephone at this point, he kept his mouth shut.

"You know, Neku. You might say that as an insult, but personally, I'm glad Joshua and I have mellowed out. 'A burden shared is a burden halved', after all. And personally, Joshua and I have had more than enough troubles to work out. Like, when my neighborhood burned down, and he had to—begrudgingly—comfort my traumatized self."

And just like that, at Rhyme's simple and conversational words, Neku felt like a light bulb had gone off inside of him, and he understood at once what was going on with Shiki.

The fire... her family's friends that had died in the fire... and the way she was acting and dressing now... he'd seen this before, hadn't he? Yes, he most certainly had.

Standing up, as if almost in a trance, Neku said a hasty goodbye to Joshua, Rhyme, Beat (who had just got in, after dodging some suspicious Players outside), and Mr. H in the back, before deciding he needed to find and fix things with Shiki, before they faced their past again.

Yes, on a day like today, Neku knew there was no time like the present, to fix the relationship that had originally started on this day five years ago.

And as for Rhyme's wish... Well, perhaps it was just best if only three people could help out future Players. After all, three was a sacred number in mythology, and even in Neku's own time in the Game. And seeing as how Joshua and Rhyme were starting to act more like the wishes in Sleeping Beauty's story, rather than Hades' story, he supposed that fit, too.

He could only hope his fixing things with Shiki would lead them to a happier story, as well.

...

It had to be pure karma, Neku thought, that when he spilled out of WildKat, like hellhounds were on his tail, that he'd run right into the person he'd been seeking: The person who'd run into him so long ago.

At once—as Shiki looked around the Players about her guiltily—Neku saw the Stalker he still knew and loved spill through her façade, as she worried about having hurt one of them.

But then, when she noted that it was only Neku she'd run into instead, she raised her leg up so high, that her already high, tan boots rose up to her knee, and she feigned kicking Neku right in the stomach.

Trying to fiddle with a gum wrapper in her hand (but looking moreso like she was trying to sew one of Mr. Mew's paws with her motion, or something), Shiki snarled, "What? Is this payback for being a klutz, and trying to get you to Partner with me before, Neku? Jeez, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I saved our lives, but will you please get out of my way, so I can help some other Players? If you want me to kick your ass later, I will."

"Shiki, will you drop the Sakura Kyoko act now?" Neku asked irritated, as he crossed his arms over his chest, and debated sporting one of Joshua's irritated faces.

For a moment, Shiki's red-brown eyes locked onto Neku's, in what could only have been shock. Then, seeming to come out of her stupor, Shiki put on her usual amused and sophisticated air, as she curled her arm out in front of her, whilst looking at Neku in mirth. "Uhh... Neku, I really don't know what you're talking about, but I think that spending so much time with CAT's artistic visions, has made you lose grip on reality. Why on Earth would I want to pretend to be Kyoko-chan from 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', anyway?"

Though Neku could have easily made an hypothesis—and his ice-blue eyes looked at Shiki intently, in his attempt to get her to see reason (unlike the lack of reason that had been in his eyes, the last time he'd looked at Shiki this way, and had... had tried to kill her)—he found he wasn't completely sure about what he knew.

So putting a hand on his shoulder, and hiding his eyes beneath his bangs, as he looked unsurely away from Shiki, Neku ironically found himself praying to Joshua that this would all go well, and-

"Here, why don't we go sit down at that white table over there? Okay, Shiki?" Neku said finally, as he pushed his ex-girlfriend's leg away from him, more forcefully than he might have meant to.

Basically: Neku knew that in the mindset she was in now, Shiki was likely to try anything. And if she truly was emulating the Red Magi from "Madoka Magica", that probably meant she was more than willing to get into a fight with him, if it came down to it. And were that to happen—though Neku hoped greatly that it wouldn't—he knew well that he'd win, being the Composer's Proxy and all.

And in that... well, Neku knew he needed to remind Shiki of the fact, so there'd be no reason to get herself hurt. After all, if Neku's theory was on the money, she was suffering plenty enough, as it was. And he… He didn't... want to literally have to knock some sense into her, if he could avoid it.

But then again, as Shiki looked at him with narrowed eyes, and flipped her long hair over her shoulder haughtily, Neku wondered if that might be his best course of action, after all. _Damn all these stupid ultimatums! _Neku thought to himself, and he threw a fist into the air angrily.

"Don't try to psycho-analyze me, Neku," Shiki complained, as she daintily sat in the seat opposite of Neku, and motioned for him to sit down, as well. "Look, I know it's in your nature, and you can't help it after you went through in the Game, but... know that I know your tactics, so there's no need to even waste time with it. Like right now, I know your sitting down in the open—despite what you want to be doing—to get me to compromise some of my behaviors, too.

"But here's the thing, Neku: I don't want to compromise. I can't and shouldn't, all right? So why don't you go back to leaning against WildKat's wall, like you want to, and leave me alone? This place is too open for us to have heavy conversations, anyway."

And at her last sentence—in realizing she'd probably given away more information than she'd have liked to, as well as the knowledge that maybe she _would_ have been willing to talk at another location—a look of betray appeared in Shiki's eyes, the like of which Neku had ever seen before. Not even... not even during their rocky first days in the Game together. And Neku understood, then, that the person Shiki really felt betrayed by… was herself.

And so when Shiki huffed angrily at her own actions, and hastily got up—no doubt planning to never set foot at WildKat again—Neku found that the only thing he could and wanted to do, was to grab onto her hand and stop her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Shiki, will you please just hang on a minute? I- I know what you're thinking and feeling, and this has nothing to do with what I think I learned from the Game, this is about me knowing _you_," Neku called her out, as he held onto Shiki's arm tightly, and hoped and prayed that the Attack on Titan ring of Annie's he'd bought, wasn't biting into Shiki's wrist at the very moment.

But as it was, Neku supposed it only would have fit, if he accidentally hurt Shiki now, since all they seemed to do was unintentionally hurt each other these days, anyway. At the current moment, for instance... the sun was shining so brightly onto Neku, that he felt blinded, and he knew well that... That Shiki was probably just seeing it as further evidence, that he was an angel, and she was at fault, as she stayed bathed in the shade.

"Shiki... I know what happened to your family's friends. They died in a fire, right? That's terrible and tragic, but there's no reason you should blame yourself for that. You can't be friends with every Composer. You just can't be. So there's no reason to hold yourself responsible, for not helping them win a second chance at life. You especially have no reason to act like Kyoko now, in realizing your stories are similar. And to think that _you_ called _me_ the anime freak."

And before Neku could think how glad he was to have lightened up, and be saying something so cheesy and cliché to help someone else out for once, the Ex-Player suddenly understood in the form of Shiki slapping him across the face, _why_he never would have said something like that, before meeting Sora.

Ugh. That _had_ been unintentionally cruel, hadn't it? Yep, Neku thought to himself—as he nursed his injured face, and wished that Shiki's eyes were burning into him for another reason, than for what they were now—he'd more than deserved that smack.

And for that reason, he couldn't even blame Shiki for what she'd just done. Instead, he held her hand that had injured him between his own, like he was holding onto a sacred gift. And in a way, Neku supposed he was, if his doing this meant he could talk some sense into Shiki.

However, as her eyes darted across his face in an incredulous and scared fashion, Neku got the sense that his accepting of Shiki hadn't been what she'd wanted at all. Rather, she had wanted to be punished more than she was already punishing herself.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Neku? Say something clever back. Honestly, you letting me cramp your style like this isn't like you at all; you should be-"

"Shiki, enough," Neku responded calmly, and not without kindness. In some ways, to tell the truth, this passive way of dealing with problems didn't feel like him—or even right—at all. As for a moment there, Neku had found he'd never wanted to tell Shiki to "shut up", and to start yelling some reason into her, more than he had then.

But upon not really being that type of person anymore—and furthermore, realizing it would just damage Shiki more, and probably affirm what she already was thinking—he held back.

Then, leading Shiki back to the table they'd been sitting at just a moment prior, with gentle and baby steps, Neku tried to tell Shiki via the look in his eyes, that he wasn't trying to get her to compromise at all. In actuality, he just wanted her to listen, and be open to clashing like Mr. H had once spoken of.

"Look Shiki," the spiky-haired-boy said, as he ran his hands along the back of his hair in a nervous fashion, "The world's not perfect, and there's only so much you can do. And hell, I don't exactly buy Joshua's crap about Higher Beings and all that, but I still feel like there's a reason for everything that happens. And I guess, what I'm trying to say... Is that you can't blame yourself for things you had nothing to do with. You can mourn, yes, but if you let it get the best of you, you're just going to create Noise and cause _more_problems, you feel me?"

And how Neku hoped that she would, as it had been she that had taught him how to help others to begin with. And even in her optimistic idealism back then, she'd still known there was a limit to it. Like, how when she'd first tried to help 777, she'd known to only help him if they could, and not if it interfered with their mission.

It was sad to Neku that that form of Shiki had been lost to tragedy now. And somehow... her idea to do more for people, had only fed the Darkness within her soul... Even if the only person she was hurting was herself. Whoever had said that even selflessness could be selfishness in itself, had been one correct bastard, Neku thought dejectedly.

"Yeah, but Neku!" Shiki complained. And in that moment, she sounded so much like her real and normal self, that Neku had the fight the urge to tell Joshua to just Imprint her back to normal the rest of the way. But in the end, in knowing how wrong that would be, and how unfair it would be to her, Neku waited with bated breath for her to hopefully take his words to heart. And he was more than a bit sourly disappointed, when she didn't.

"Joshua and Mr. H also wanted us to take what we learned from the Game, right? So why _can't_ we help more people? We should if we can, and why shouldn't we? We, at least at first, were the most survivors he ever let out of a Game. And it was also us who convinced him to be more gung-ho about letting people come back, right? So how can we just end it there? How? Especially if certain people deserve more of a second chance than you do. Like, what if it was your parents we were discussing right now, or something? What if-"

"Yeah, but Shiki, you're missing the whole point. Somethings just are. And everything has a beginning and end, you know? You need both good _and_bad in the world, or you can't recognize either. It was _you_that told me that once, Shiki. And Josh really has no control over the other UGs. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but a lot of Composers aren't as lenient as him, and we just have to accept that. Unless you want to battle all of them in the UG, of course. In which case, I'm just going to have to bid you good luck, as I've had enough of the UG to last a lifetime."

Though this wasn't completely true, and Neku would never dare leave any of his Partners or loved ones, if it came down to it (especially Shiki), the Proxy thought it was probably best to limit Shiki to that information, since she was already talking the kind of schemes that had gotten Mr. H banned as an Angel.

Furthermore, Neku was a little worried that Shiki was starting to regress to her pre-Game state—or, moreover—that she was acting like he'd used to. What if Joshua saw it best to put her through that hell again, to try and "fix" her or something? Or what if he just flat out Erased her? Though Neku prayed to every Angel he could think of that Joshua wasn't that cruel after all these years, he couldn't be too sure about it, either...

"Hey, umm, Neku… why don't we go back to our place and discuss this? This really isn't a suitable place for this type of conversation. And I don't really want to risk these newbie Players scanning my thoughts, either," said Shiki, as she pressed her two index fingers together nervously, and hesitantly looked up at Neku, from beneath her lashes.

Smiling slightly despite himself—and ignoring the feeling that ignited in his heart, telling him the others had been watching him and Shiki this whole time—Neku reached out for Shiki's hand, and simply muttered, "Okay," before leading her away from Cat Street…

And the place that would have led to five Ex-Players blessing the new ones, instead of just three, if things had been different.

…

In some ways, it was hard for Neku to believe that just that morning, he and Shiki had been having a terrible fight that seemed to want to go nowhere. And now… now things were mostly back to the way Neku had come to like them, if not a little off for the fact that Shiki was still acting a bit off-kilter.

If nothing else, though, at least Shiki had invited him back to her—their—place, and had referred to it as such (hinting at the fact that she still wanted to be with him subconsciously, maybe).

But, of course, there was a part of Neku that was a bit worried that maybe Shiki just wanted to use him for sex or something. If the psyche studies he'd taken in college had anything to say about it, the answer seemed to point to "yes", and once again, that worried Neku more than anything else, because…

Well, the form of detachment Shiki'd come to cloak herself in now was reminiscent of his old self, and Neku himself… was acting quite a bit like the old Shiki had, he thought. They truly had clashed and changed, but as Neku's eyes met Shiki's, before she exited the front room and headed into the kitchen, he had to wonder if it was for the best.

Knowing that Rome wasn't built in a day, though, Neku simply decided to plop himself down atop his favorite, beat up and blue couch, as he felt under it for what he knew was there.

After a few seconds of finding nothing, a few dust bunnies, and perhaps even their long-lost "Trouble" board game, Neku's hands finally found what they were looking for, in the form of an ugly, somewhat deformed, black plushie. Pulling Piggy out of his would-be prison, if Neku hadn't been there to save the day, the former Proxy muttered a warning to Shiki, before throwing the stuffed animal to where she was looking for something in the kitchen.

Only when the klutz had fumbled it, and finally caught the damned thing, did Neku explain, "If I were you, I'd hold on to the pig, Shiki. Even if you think you've grown out of him or something, he's still gotten you through a lot. 'Sides, you don't want J or Mr. H to come lecture you about the things we learned from the Game again, do you? It doesn't help that they both seemed sort of cross today, either. Josh did seem worried about you, though. So points for that, I suppose."

And it was only when the last words left his mouth, that Neku realized what a gigantic mistake he'd made with what he'd just said. First off, he wasn't usually one to be a sissy, and to talk about feelings so openly.

Secondly, he'd just shown he cared about Joshua more than he could rightfully live with (as it was, he half-expected to get a million texts from the Composer right now, reading how he hadn't known Neku cared so much, and/or how he cared, too).

But most of all… Neku knew he'd probably just stuck a nerve with Shiki, in letting her know people were worried about her, and thought there was something _to_ worry about. Seeing as how the girl seemed gung-ho to act as though she was fine, Neku pretty much expected her to want to stop beating up on him in three, two, one-

"Neku, don't you see? I'm not the person you guys should be worried about, which is exactly what I've been trying to say all along! Worry about Mai's family that was left behind. That and my parents… they don't have a lot of friends left, you see, and…"

Well, Shiki had certainly deflated faster than he would have thought possible, Neku pondered quietly, as he stared at the girl he loved a bit incredulously. She'd come down to sit in the chair opposite of him, and she dejectedly looked at her hands in her lap, as if they were the most interesting things in the world. What the hell had happened to the self-righteous girl from earlier? Neku couldn't help but wonder. Not that this was a bad thing. Quite the opposite, really. This was progress, but…

Taking in a sharp intake of breath—as Neku _finally_ thought he understood what was truly going on here—the boy purposefully took a seat next to Shiki, a lot more roughly than he'd meant to, but he couldn't really help it, when… when-

Running a hand over his face, as he chanced a glance at Shiki—who, unfortunately, looked even more put off by his actions—Neku decided then and there that he needed to reign in his emotions, if he was going to help her. Getting her all flustered and whatnot wasn't going to help anything.

So taking in a deep breath, and nudging Shiki in the shoulder, Neku did just that. "Shiki- I don't know how to come out and say this exactly. I'm afraid I might offend you, or even say some things that are probably wrong here, but… did your parents find out about the Game? And did they… did they blame you for not helping Mai's family win it, or something?"

And in the end, Shiki's harsh silence, and inability to even look at him, was all the answer Neku would ever need. Curling his hand into a fist, as pure unadulterated rage boiled inside of him, for the stupidity that was Shiki's parents, Neku tried desperately to fight off his desire to call Shiki's 'rents right then and there and chew them out.

He even silenced his idea of telling Shiki her parents were stupid, and maybe even worse than Joshua's had been. Instead, all he did was pull Shiki into his arms, so she could mourn how she wanted to, and pulled up the apple that had fallen to the floor from earlier in the day.

"Shiki… it's not like you took a bite of the forbidden fruit, and are a witch that made this happen or whatever. You're not Kyoko, so I don't even get what your parents are on about. I mean, what the hell? Also… you should probably stop buying apples, or you're going to believe the lie your parents told you."

There. That was better than his earlier attempt at cheering her up, Neku knew (for which he'd gotten slapped). If nothing else, it seemed to make Shiki smile the slightest bit, as she leaned into his shoulder, and held onto his arm, like she never wanted to let go.

Going even further than that, trying to get the ridiculous idea out of Shiki's head even more, Neku took the apple he'd been holding for all of but a minute, and then decided to finish it in three whole bites. It was for more than that he just didn't want Shiki to see it, or to be faced with the reminder of it, but rather…

That he wanted her to know that he was as much to blame, too. And if she wanted to… he could take the burden himself, or at least face it with her. They were Partners, after all, and that was what Partners did. And if Shiki had never done the same for him, Neku knew he would have never even known that much.

_I'm glad… I met you guys. You made me pick up on things… I probably just would have gone on ignoring._Smiling at the words that came back to him, from what felt like a lifetime ago (and really _were_the beginning to a new and better life for him), Neku allowed himself to snuggle closer to Shiki, as well. And then, just like that, he finally knew what he had to do and say to finally get her to see what he did.

"Hey, Shiki? Do you remember that parallel world Joshua told us about, when you were part of the White Angels, and-"

"And I was a hipster to the extreme, and couldn't like anything if it went mainstream?" Shiki questioned, as she looked up at Neku with owlish eyes, and also looked torn between giving him a compliment, if his words sufficed, or hitting him, if he commented on her unintentional rhyming or something.

"Yeah, that. As you just said, you were a bit crazy about being the 'first and only' fan there, and since you just said that was a bit much… Don't you think the same applies to you blaming yourself for something like this? I mean, you _did_ say you were over that ridiculous stage of your life, right?" Neku questioned, as he braced himself for another slap of Shiki's that would inevitably come.

Which was far be it from him to complain, when instead of reading him the riot act, Shiki clutched his arm tighter still, and began cracking up.

Blushing at his own words now, Neku didn't know whether to be glad his unintentional joke had just cheered Shiki, or embarrassed that he'd just pulled a Sora again. When Shiki leaned into him, and placed a kiss to his cheek, Neku decided it was probably best to feel the ladder.

"Oh, Neku!" Shiki exclaimed, as she threw her hands up into the air, and looked to all the world that she'd been saddled with Neku as a Partner again, and didn't want that at all. "You're such a dork. You and Riku both. Of all the things you could have said to pull me out of my funk, _that's_ what you settle on? Jeez. What was I ever thinking in breaking up with you? Clearly you need my help in your life…

"And maybe, just maybe, I need yours, as well, and you're right. So what do you say?" Shiki asked, as she whipped her hair out of the ponytail it had been in, and let it spill free, so that she looked much like the girl Neku had originally Partnered with. "Partners?" Shiki asked, as she smiled shyly at Neku, and seemed to be wavering between wanting to cut into him again, or to thank him even moreso.

Shaking his head for what he was getting into for the second time with this Stalker, when he could have just walked away, Neku simply said before he could regret his decision, "Partners."

And when he shook hands with her then, he may or may not have pulled Shiki to him, so that he might give her a quick kiss.

Pulling away only when he was sure he'd left Shiki a complete pile of goo, and had scattered what was left of her brain cells to the wind, Neku quickly winked at Shiki before saying cheekily, "And FYI. If you ever want me to Partner with you again, I'd keep the Kyoko look, but just not the attitude. It's sexy as hell, honestly."

And, of course, Shiki's response to that, was to punch Neku in the arm angrily, as they both laughed and laughed and laughed, and Mr. Mew fell to the floor, preparing to tell the same sort of story about these two, that the previous apple that bit the dust had.

**Author's Note: So I love, love, LOVE this story, which is weird for me. But OMG. This came out so seamlessly and beautifully, and I just love it. It's so light and fun, and it serves to remind me that I CAN write fluff and humor. Who'd have thought it? :D (Gosh, I sound like Donald…)**

**Anyway, this was inspired by me not being able to get the idea of Shiki looking or acting like Kyoko Sakura out of my head. I don't know why, but man am I glad I followed that plot bunny, because I think it really paid off:)**

**You know… I just realized I seem to have a thing for Shiki cosplaying as another character in my stories with her. Huh. She was obviously Kyoko here, Bloom from Winx Club in another story, and kind of the girl from "In Time" in another story of mine (though Neku was more the Justin Timberlake character for a scene in that, than Shiki was "the girl" in it). Huh… I wonder why this is, exactly…**

**Also, praise God in the heavens (seriously. I'm a Christian), that I seem to be able to write TWEWY again. Woot! I'm so, so glad. I was beyond scared, when I thought I'd lost their voices for the longest time. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction, and I'll be able to write things like "Trust Me" again.**

**But, yeah. I'm so glad to have finally written a nice NeShiki. I've, unintentionally, neglected them far too much. But I think I've really done them justice here (and TWEWY, in general; I swear this story might just be my favorite now), so thank you, God. Hopefully I'll be able to do more for them in the future. **

**And I hope YOU all enjoyed this story. Drop me a review and tell me what you think. I think my Muse might just FINALLY be back. Woot!**

**Also… this story was just what I needed, after getting mad at S-E for what they did with the FFX universe the other day. It's nice to remember that they still have some sense and talent, when it comes to some games, characters, and parings. Yeah…**

**Welp, talk to you guys later.**

**-Shanna**

**P.S. How's the weather where you guys are at? We have a blizzard here. There's so much snow- gah! Anyway, I think I might be feeling a bit stir crazy, which probably shows here, so drop me a line, so I don't die from insanity. Please and thank you! :D**


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